Best Batch Yet
Something I’ve never come across before for some reason is Captain Beefheart’s “10 Commandments for Guitarists”. I found this at the ever-informative Music Thing, though it appears on a few sites around the web. The annotations in italics are mine.…
Top 10 – My Synths
Inspired in part by Sonicstate’s top 20 greatest synths and Matrixsynth’s The Most Underrated Synths, here is my alternative. This is my top ten list of synths. Not the greatest by any margin, though there are some classics in there.…
It Was 60 Years Ago Today
Forty whole years have passed since the world first heard “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band“. A pretty good innings for a piece of pop music, ephemeral as the genre usually is. It’s not an album I even own (The…
An Ancient and Distinguished Instrument
I came across a Yahoo group yesterday that I thought might be of interest (Novelty Music), and this morning heard back from founder member Paul Moore. Paul has a one-man-band and plays the ‘Zob Stick’ which, upon further investigation, turns…
The New Yobstick
At last, I finally got around to finishing the new yobstick. It’s quite a departure from previous efforts – lots of natural wood and more emphasis on playability instead of durability. I’ve only played it for a short time tonight,…
A Slight Detour
I’m a great believer in trying something new at least once, especially if it is something that will provide some new insight or approach to life or what we do in it. In a recent search for interesting sounds to…
Hands Off!
I don’t usually like to plug things around here, but this is an event that I’m really looking forward to – a whole weekend of theremin fun and goodness. There’s a great line up of concerts and events planned with…
Now It Can Be Told
Just back from a fortnight’s holiday on the emerald isle, refreshed and renewed, to discover the passing of another great. Kurt Vonnegut RIP Of the small group of writers I would categorise as my ‘favourites’, Kurt Vonnegut has always felt…
Next, please
First of all, “Xenochronous Requiem For A Head Laying In A Field In Butler” was used to open this week’s Spellbound show, with host David Vesel commenting on the unlikelihood of chart success if Casey Kasem can’t even pronounce the…
Xenochrony
One of Zappa’s favourite tricks around the “Joe’s Garage” era and beyond was the practice he called “xenochrony” or “strange synchronisation”. This involved him taking a piece of music (often a studio backing track) and overdubbing it with a totally…